Roger Ebert for Foodies
City of Gold chronicles Jonathan Gold's career as a food critic for the LA Weekly and Los Angeles Times, and features some of his favorite spots in the city's various pockets of culture. Great Chinese food, Mexican food, and Iranian food—to name but a few—abound in this documentary, so don't see it on an empty stomach. It's that exploration of Los Angeles and its eclectic collection of culinary ventures that will likely stand as the main draws for City of Gold's audience, though the man himself is avuncular to both restauranteurs and viewers. It's an all-around pleasant experience guaranteed to engage anyone who likes writing, food or Los Angeles.
As a documentary, City of Gold isn't revolutionary. It gives us pieces of Gold's life in Los Angeles as both a native Angelino and as a critic mixed in with visits to restaurants he's reviewed over the years, often accompanied with a reading of the review in question. What director Laura Gabbart does with the most ease is concisely explain and show the sprawling metropolitan and suburban Greater Los Angeles Area without diving into the minutia of which thoroughfares and highways to take to get from Santa Monica to Alhambra. A map of the city appears, we zoom toward a particular titled, outlined neighborhood, and we're there. It's a clean and simple way to traverse the city without the viewer ever getting lost or needing to rely on their own knowledge of LA geography.
The food and its creators play a central role in City of Gold—and those of you fortunate to have opportunities to visit the restaurants in the film will likely find their stories quite interesting—but the documentary's heart is found in Gold and his writing. I wasn't familiar with Jonathan Gold before seeing this film, and I'm nowhere near as adventurous an eater as he, but in this portrait he strikes me as a Roger Ebert for the food scene. Ebert's reviews always offered his feelings as much as his thoughts, allowing him to gush over films as disparate as The Last Temptation of Christ and Cars 2. Gold and Ebert both posses an ability to asses what was brought to the table by trying to connect with it rather than judge it by its surface.
What makes Gold a compelling "leading man" in this story is the grounded approach he takes to his work. Gold enjoys good food, most often from a variety of cultures, and his interest in even the smallest, cheapest neighborhood restaurants is endearing. Like Ebert, he's one of us. Though you might walk into City of Gold more curious about the city and its food than the man, Jonathan Gold's passion and down-to-earth mindset are what make the film more than just an LA culinary travelogue. His story would be incomplete without the restaurants, just as theirs would be without him.